Critical Reasoning

I.
These days, drug companies and health professionals alike are focusing their attention on cholesterol in the blood. The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall die of a heart attack. The issue is pertinent since heart disease kills more North Americans every year than any other single cause. At least three factors---smoking, drinking, and exercise-can each influence levels of the cholesterol in the blood.


Which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?
(A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person's risk of fatal heart disease is low.
(B) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking.
(C) A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America.
(D) The only way that smoking increases one's risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood.
(E) The risk of fatal heart disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle.

anwser: (E)

please help me to identify the C/P/A, and analyse the whole question.
i cannot figure out why A is wrong since it says"The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall die of a heart attack."

II.
Historian: We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair. It is likely, for example, that Isaac Newton's psychological problems were due to mercury poisoning; traces of mercury were found in his hair. Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven's hair. Although no convincing argument has shown that Beethoven ever had a venereal disease, some people hypothesize that venereal disease caused his deafness. since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease, if researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian's argument depends?
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's.

the answer is B, which i think is questionable.

III.
how can i improve my pace?
when the question stem is long, i have to spend time comprehanding, and analysing the choices one by one. it is rather time consuming. i am worried that i don't have enough time to finish the verbal.

.
These days, drug companies and health professionals alike are focusing their attention on cholesterol in the blood. The more cholesterol we have in our blood, the higher the risk that we shall die of a heart attack. The issue is pertinent since heart disease kills more North Americans every year than any other single cause. At least three factors---smoking, drinking, and exercise-can each influence levels of the cholesterol in the blood.


Which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?
(A) If a person has low blood cholesterol, then that person’s risk of fatal heart disease is low. => argu does not talk abt low cholestrol...out of scope(B) Smoking in moderation can entail as great a risk of fatal heart disease as does heavy smoking. => argu mentions only 3 factors...no indication of moderate to heavy smokking distinction...incorrect(C) A high-cholesterol diet is the principal cause of death in North America. => high dealth from heart disease...but no mention whether its caused by high cholestrol...incorrect(D) The only way that smoking increases one’s risk of fatal heart disease is by influencing the levels of cholesterol in the blood. => how smoking influence not mentioned...out of scope(E) The risk of fatal heart disease can be altered by certain changes in lifestyle. => lifestyle comprises 'smoking, drinking, and exercise'...correct

[spoiler]anwser: (E) [/spoiler]

Historian: We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair. It is likely, for example, that Isaac Newton’s psychological problems were due to mercury poisoning; traces of mercury were found in his hair. Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven’s hair. Although no convincing argument has shown that Beethoven ever had a venereal disease, some people hypothesize that venereal disease caused his deafness. since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven’s time to treat venereal disease, if researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian’s argument depends?
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated. => if body can eliminate mercury...then people will not find any trace of mercury...and so can disprove their hypothesis. But Beethoven might have the disease=> correct(B) Some people in Beethoven’s time did not ingest mercury. => other people's indigestion habit can't prove/disprove the hypothesis=> incorrect(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease. => irrelevant...argu does not discuss whether mercury is effective treatment option or not....even if it is so...choice does nothing to the hypothesis=> incorrect(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease. => was a contender....but later realized that mercury does not causse deafness...its a treatment option for venereal disease=> incorrect
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton’s. => no impact on hypothesis


Not sure how OA is B

III: request some experts to comment

For question 2, IMO answer is [spoiler]'D'[/spoiler]. Need experts help to get an explanation if the answer is supposed to be [spoiler]'B'.[/spoiler]

I'm no expert but D in question 2 can't be correct. Venereal disease, not mercury, is believed to be the cause of Beethoven's deafness. The author doesn't assume that mercury poisoning causes Beethoven's deafness. Mercury only served as evidence that Beethoven might have suffered from venereal disease because mercury was used to treat venereal disease.

II.
Historian: We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair. It is likely, for example, that Isaac Newton's psychological problems were due to mercury poisoning; traces of mercury were found in his hair. Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven's hair. Although no convincing argument has shown that Beethoven ever had a venereal disease, some people hypothesize that venereal disease caused his deafness. since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease, if researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian's argument depends?
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's.

So, the argument here is that if researchers find a trace of mercury in Beethoven's hair, they can conclude that he had a venereal disease, and that the venereal disease caused his deafness. The underlying assumption is that the only possible reason for Beethoven to have mercury in his system is that it was a treatment for VD. The question here asks for a necessary assumption: one on which the argument "depends." This argument depends on B, the assumption that some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury. If B weren't true, and EVERYONE in Beethoven's time ingested mercury, then mercury in his system could not be used as evidence that he had VD, and therefore the whole hypothesis would be unsupported. Basically, B is supporting that idea that Beethoven wouldn't have had mercury in his system if it wasn't a treatment for VD, and that therefore mercury in his hair would support the idea that he had VD.

To be fair, this argument also makes a pretty big leap in assuming that VD does, in fact, cause deafness. That may be true, but it's not mentioned as part of the evidence. But that's not an answer choice here; like many arguments, this one has more than one assumption underlying it. From the assumptions available, though, B is the only one that's strictly necessary.

Kinda agree with Andrea.
So what B says is that mercury was used specifically for a purpose.
If B weren't true, all people would have ingested mercury.

The wording in D is just meant to create a trap. It is not mercury, but venereal disease, that causes (or may cause) deafness.

Here's my little diagram to help this understand better: